Golden Years Recognized For Excellence by US News

November 4, 2017
Golden Years Nursing Center, our beautiful nursing home in Hamilton, Ohio, has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report's Nursing Home Finder as being one of the top quality nursing homes in Ohio. This annual search for the best skilled nursing facilities in the country places a strong focus on excellence in medical quality measures.Nursing-home care can be as short as a few days or weeks after a hospitalization or for years if aging family members can no longer live on their own. To help find the best match for a loved one, U.S. News has evaluated over 15,000 facilities across the country, and Atlas Healthcare Solutions is happy to see Golden Years recognized for excellence!

Under the vision of owner Bob Speelman, and Nursing Home Developer Brian Colleran, Golden Years and Atlas Healthcare Solutions are committed to excelling in the areas of resident satisfaction and clinical excellence. With 37 facilities in Ohio, Atlas Healthcare Solutions seeks to exceed expectations one resident at a time.

How are health inspections, nurse staffing and quality measures evaluated?

Health inspections. Because almost all nursing homes accept Medicare, Medicaid or both, they are regulated by the federal government as well as by the states in which they operate. State survey teams generally conduct health inspections on behalf of CMS every 12 to 15 months. They also investigate complaints from residents, their families and other members of the public that have a health basis, broadly defined. Besides matters such as safety of food preparation and adequacy of infection control, health covers issues such as medication management, residents' rights and quality of life and proper skin care. Ratings in this category are based on deficiencies and their seriousness and scope, meaning the relative number of residents who were or could have been affected. Deficiencies are included if identified during the three latest health inspections and in investigations of public complaints in that time frame. State inspectors also check for compliance with fire safety rules, although their findings are not factored into the CMS ratings. Nursing Home Finder displays all health and fire inspection results online.

Nurse staffing. CMS determines the daily time patients receive from the nursing staff, because even first-rate nurses and nurse aides can't deliver quality care if there are too few. The information is self-reported by each nursing home. Facilities report the average number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses and certified nurse aides and assistants on the payroll during the two weeks before the latest health inspection. The number of hours they worked is also reported. Agency temporary employees do not count. That information is compared with the average number of residents during the same period and crunched to determine the average number of daily minutes of nursing time. To receive five stars in the latest CMS ratings, the nursing staff had to provide nearly 4½ hours of care a day to each resident, including about 43 minutes from registered nurses. The time for each home is shown in the ratings. CMS also provides the average time physical therapists spend with residents, but that is not factored into the staffing rating.

Quality measures. CMS requires nursing homes to submit clinical data for the latest three calendar quarters that detail the status of each individual Medicare and Medicaid resident in 18 indicators. Examples of these include the percentage of residents who had urinary tract infections or who were physically restrained to keep from falling from a bed or a chair. Best Nursing Homes, like Nursing Home Compare, displays all 18 data points for each home. The ratings, however, are based on 11 – eight for long-term and three for short-term residents – considered the most valid and reliable, such as the two examples cited above and other measures related to pain, bedsores and mobility.

How is the Nursing Home Finder organized?
Each nursing home receives an overall rating of one to five based on the number of stars it received over the course of the past 10 months in three categories: state-conducted health inspections, how much time nurses spend with residents and the quality of medical care. Facilities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. Best Nursing Homes orders and displays facilities in a given state or city by overall star rating – all five-star homes, all four-star homes and so on. Homes that are too new to receive an overall rating appear below one-star homes. Homes with the same score are listed alphabetically or by distance depending on the type of search.

To learn if Golden Years is the right place for your loved oneClick Here

More info on U.S. News & World's Nursing Home Finder Report can be found by clickingUS News Report